2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
5/21/2019 | 2:00 PM - 2:15 PM | METALHEADS: WHAT CAN OTOLITHS REVEAL ABOUT SPORT FISH EXPOSURE TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION OVER TIME? | 250 CF
METALHEADS: WHAT CAN OTOLITHS REVEAL ABOUT SPORT FISH EXPOSURE TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION OVER TIME?
Understanding when and where mobile aquatic consumers like fish accumulate contaminant loads from the environment is challenging because contaminants are typically extracted from pooled tissue (e.g., muscle), which provides little temporal or spatial information. Fish otoliths, which grow continuously and incorporate elements into their crystalline structure based on concentrations in the surrounding environment, may contain a ‘chemical history’ of individual exposure that can be linked to temporal landmarks (i.e., annuli). To understand timing of contaminant exposure, we compared concentrations of heavy metals (i.e., Hg, Cd, Cu, Pb) in muscle tissue and otoliths of two Lake Michigan species of economic importance – introduced Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and native walleye (Sander vitreus). Walleye muscle was significantly higher in total Hg, Cd, and Pb than was salmon muscle. Despite higher concentrations of these metals in muscle, both species had similar concentrations of metals in the otolith edge (i.e., material reflecting most recent environmental conditions), suggesting that walleye exposure may have occurred earlier in life. Otolith microchemistry may provide a tool to assess heavy metal exposure of fishes over their life cycle, and to ultimately relate this exposure to environmental hotspots of contamination.
- Pollution
- Ecotoxicology
- Bioassessment
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Presenters/Authors
Katherine O'Reilly
(), Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, koreill2@nd.edu;
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Brandon Gerig
(), Northern Michigan University, bgerig@nmu.edu;
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Gary Lamberti
(), University of Notre Dame, glambert@nd.edu;
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